


Back in the Saddle

by universe



Category: Stargate Atlantis, West Wing
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-25
Updated: 2011-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 01:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/155731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universe/pseuds/universe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It's just the President.</i> John and Elizabeth back on Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back in the Saddle

“Are you ready?” John asks, looking worried. Elizabeth should be able to deal with this. She used to do little else, before… well, _before_. It shouldn’t be difficult for her. And yet…

“No,” she swallows visibly. “But I have to do it. I just wish Daniel was here to deal with all of this. He’s so much better at dealing with these people.”

“Would you rather be put in front of a whole room full of Wraith?”

Her hesitation makes him laugh.

“You’re going to be fine. It’s just the President. You’ve dealt with him before.”

He lets his fingers trail slowly up and down her arm. Elizabeth is still fiddling with the piece of paper in her hand, the speech she’s prepared for this moment, when John puts his own hand on her back and pushes her into the press room.

 

The party later is far too formal for John’s taste (and for Elizabeth’s, too, he guesses from the way she keeps tugging at her dress—although he can’t honestly say he doesn’t enjoy the sight).

She’s engrossed in a conversation with a guy whose name John has already forgotten. Josh Something… Anyway. He must have made a joke because Elizabeth is laughing, some of the tension disappearing from her shoulders. (John’s not sure he likes this development.)

With a few long strides, he’s at her side, putting his hand protectively on the small of her back. Josh Whatshisface seems to get the message. A tall blonde passes them; John thinks he saw her during the press conference earlier.

“C.J.!” Josh shouts over the noise.

The blonde woman turns and smiles at them.

“Doctor Weir, Major Sheppard, thanks again for coming here.”

“Well, when it’s the President of the United States requesting your presence, you don’t really have a choice, do you?” Elizabeth retorts.

John isn’t sure that was the right answer, not to a senior member of the President’s staff, but C.J laughs and nods.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it. He likes torturing us with his endless trivia knowledge. Sometimes for hours at a time, because he _knows_ we can’t leave the room without his permission.”

The affection in her voice betrays her words.

“Do _you_ know why we’re here?” Elizabeth asks tentatively, which makes John assume that’s what she was talking about with Whatshisface before he came to her rescue.

“No, I don’t,” C.J. replies honestly, and adds, “but I only know a third of what the President is up to on _good_ days. It’s probably something so secret that only five people in the world know about. We get those things a lot. Just as long as you’re not stranded aliens from another galaxy, I’m fine with not knowing,” she closes with a laugh.

John makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat, and Elizabeth looks at him sharply. Thankfully, C.J. is distracted by somebody in the crowd now, and doesn’t notice.

“Toby!” she shouts instead, while Elizabeth sends a last glare his way. “Come here, you have to meet Doctor Weir and Major Sheppard.”


End file.
